Our annual Team Challenge Shoot-A-Thon is always a special day for our organization, but this year's event was truly one for the books.

The day was filled to the brim with festivities: in addition to shooting their free throws, student-athletes and their families were treated to some great music from our DJ, photos, prizes, and food throughout the day (special shout out to 7th Street Burger, Bobo's, and Lesser Evil for sponsoring this year's food offerings!). As in years past, it was great seeing everyone on our courts working together toward a common goal, but especially seeing them having fun doing it!

It's also safe to say that everyone's hard work paid off. After weeks of preparation, fundraising, and shooting practice, together our New Heights family was able to collect over 2,000 donations and pledges, setting a new Team Challenge fundraising record of over $286,000!

Not only did we set a new record (which continues to grow!), our student-athletes also made local news thanks to their fundraising ferocity—click here to see coverage from news outlet NY1, and here for another story aired by News12!

We would like to extend a big THANK YOU to all of our donors, supporters, coaches, staff members, volunteer GMs, student-athletes and their families for their commitment to ensuring youth throughout New York City have the tools and resources necessary to succeed in high school, college, and life. It is because of your generosity that our community will continue to benefit from all New Heights has to offer.

If you didn't get a chance to donate to our annual Team Challenge, you still can! You can do so by clicking here.



While two of the three core pillars of our organization—Court and Classroom—typically take up most of our student-athlete's time, our third pillar is just as important: Community.

Each year, New Heights hosts a Community Day of Service, in which our very own student-athletes give back to the neighborhoods and families that make up the village that supports our organization. That's why directly after shooting their free throws during our 12th Annual Team Challenge Shoot-A-Thon, our high school boys and a few of our own coaches hosted a special one-day FREE clinic of our fan-favorite community program The Foundation for the young student-athletes looking to follow in their footsteps.

Creating opportunities and providing them to our Brooklyn community has been one of New Heights' main focuses since moving to our building in 2021. It is through events like these that we are able to provide memorable experiences for all who participate, including our student-athletes—getting to see the impact they can have on others in real time through giving back are moments that cannot be replicated, and serve as life lessons they will carry with them for the remainder of their lives.

"It's important that our College Bound student-athletes get to see the good they can put out into the world," New Heights Community Manager Andre Ambrose told us. "Learning the value of giving back at a young age is something that sticks with you, so I'm happy we were able to put this together."

Shout out to to all of our coaches and student-athletes who donated their time to the community, Five-Star Basketball & the NBPA for their unwavering support of The Foundation, and everyone who came out to participate in our day of fun!



In our last edition of On and Off The Court, we shared how student-athletes in The Bridge—our new program geared toward those just starting out on their basketball journeys—had the opportunity to not only exercise their physical muscles, but their creative muscles as well with some help from our friends at Design FC. During our two-part workshop, everyone had the opportunity to collaborate on a jersey design unique to The Bridge, drawing from elements and values they felt were important to include on the uniform as inspiration—like courage and teamwork.

After some weeks spent patiently waiting on the design to be finalized and manufactured, we are happy to report that everyone received their new gear last month!

But that's not all. Design FC helped organize our very own Media Day to show off the finished product and our new swag, featuring our very own student-athletes modeling their creation. The double-sided jersey features design elements from each individual who participated in the design workshops, showing off the amazing artwork everyone drew by hand. Click here to see some of the photos we captured during the jersey reveal!

The most exciting part? These jerseys will be worn by everyone in The Bridge in their summer league games, a feature of The Bridge that gives participants the opportunity to play in organized games with coaches, clocks, and referees, making it so they'll be sporting their own artwork every time they step onto the hardwood!



It's not every day that you get to lace your shoes up to play on a WNBA champion's court. That's why we didn't hesitate to say yes when we learned that our College Bound young ladies would have a chance to play on the New York Liberty's court last month!

Our girls were invited to be pre-game "bench warmers", where they got to sit courtside and watch players from the championship Liberty squad shoot around before the team headed into the locker room to prepare for their matchup against the Golden State Valkyries.

Meanwhile, our girls had their own game to think about — they also received the opportunity to play a five-minute scrimmage in front of the home crowd as fans arrived for the Liberty game! As everyone found their seats, our student-athletes put on a show to get everyone ready for a fun night of hoops (and a Liberty win!).

"[This] was a night that won't soon be forgotten by New Heights [student-athletes] and their families," New Heights Girls Basketball Director Kathleen Weber said. "[We're thankful] to the Liberty for all they are to basketball today."

Click here to watch a video recap of the time our girls had!



Being a student-athlete is far from easy. On top of managing their schoolwork and sports simultaneously, youth often have many other things they're juggling as they mature, ranging from familial obligations to friendships, college decisions, and more. This is why each year, we celebrate our high school graduating class with Senior Night, a special celebration to acknowledge our student-athletes for their hard work and set them off on their path into adulthood.

This year our seniors and their families were invited to our building to take part in our annual traditions for our soon-to-be college freshmen. An array of food, New Heights awards, and special parting gifts were handed out over the course of the evening while attendees got to hear from some prominent New Heights faces they've grown to know over the past several years, as well as a special message from (now fellow!) alum Lance Goulbourne, who also sits on the New Heights Emerging Leaders Council.

Lance's words of wisdom to this year's graduates? "Take risks, visit different places, try different things. You have a great support system here and they'll help you."

Lance isn't wrong—even after graduating from high school, New Heights continues to support their alums through college and life in the form of tutoring, resumé building, helping identify internships, and more. We firmly believe that our network of alumni and professionals who make up the New Heights family is strong and resourceful, and we never take for granted how willing they are to help lift the next generation after them.

We hope you'll join us in congratulating the Class of 2025!



The return of summer means the return of our annual Summer Academy and we can't wait!

Our four-week day camp for rising 5th-8th graders is a basketball lover's dream: over the course of the day, children will participate in at least three hours of basketball training and games, working to refine their skills on the hardwood. And, off the court, there's just as much fun to be had—between coding classes, strength & conditioning, yoga, improv comedy, film study, and multiple field trips, there isn't much time to be bored!

Spots for Summer Academy have been filled, and we're ready for another jam-packed July filled with fun, games, and a lot of basketball! We look forward to seeing all of our new and returning campers on Monday, July 7th!

Thanks for reading! If you would like to support New Heights and our life-changing academic and athletic programming, please consider making a fully tax-deductible donation using the link below. Your generosity allows us to provide experiences, opportunities and resources to over 1,700 young people each year.

New Heights is a 501(c)3 non-profit sports-based youth development organization based in New York City that combines basketball and academic support to help student-athletes rise to their potential on the court, in the classroom and in their communities. Our mission is to educate and empower promising underserved youth to be leaders, champions and student-athletes by developing the skills necessary for success in high school, college and life.